After the storm

[jianai]

[1]
[Late at night, Ren is looking up at the starry sky. It is peaceful and quiet, with wind gently blowing, a fresh breeze on everyone's faces.]

I was a fool, wasn't I?

If you close your heart, if you stay distant from others - then they can't really hurt you. And if you are not sure about someone's intentions, that is the best way to avoid disappointment and harm.

And yet...

And yet I will continue being a fool.

I am aware of horrible things human beings are capable of. I even experienced it first hand - this doesn't change anything. Because, every day, I am surrounded by proof of wonderful things people are capable of, too. People of Earth, and of other planets.

[Ren notices the shining object in the distance. It was not there just a few days' ago. Cybertron.]

Great kindness, incredible cruelty and everything in between. That's what it means to be human, doesn't it? Sorry for waxing so philosophically.

[2]
Hello!

[Ren approaches people they know with a glint in their eye. It might be time to run.]

So many people were concerned about recent happenings, I'd like to help them get at least some relief. And I know how.

Would you like to attend a religious ceremony with me?

Comments

1

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Loneliness isn't much better, is it? At least those weird students in back when I was a teen in school who'd go on about not believing in anything when trying to analyze literature were also the ones always crying in the corner at parties...But maybe they just talked about it to please the teacher. She was pretty melodramatic most of the time. [There's a small hint of a smile and a lighter tone at the last sentence.]

[jianai]

Trying to fit in is a big part of being young like that, isn't it? But for some it means going with the crowd, and for others - trying to appear cool and going against it.

And it's often a bit of both. That's what it means, being a teen.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Yes. But, that wasn't really the point. It was that just trying to ignore everybody and do it on your own probably feels worse than dealing with others, even with the risk of betrayal.

[jianai]

But did they really wish not to deal with others? Or perhaps it is more complicated than that.

Well.

[Ren continues enjoying the night sky.]

It's not my place to judge one's teenage years, right? For those who had them, at least.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Of course they didn't. Nobody does, humans want company. It's just the way it is.

And you seem pretty human, so you're probably also better off with it regardless.

[jianai]

That's a very big statement you just said so casually, Alex. I should be grateful.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Well, you do.

[jianai]

Yet I am not a human. In fact my way of thinking was always very not unlike humans - and I'd be the first to admit it.

For a while, I was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if I lost this strange point of view of mine.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Humans are pretty good at not being like one thing, which makes it easier to be a lot like us. Even things like preserving our lives and reproducing isn't universal to us.

[jianai]

Some stances are more unusual than others.

But, you raise a good point. When it boils down to it, it's very hard, almost impossible, to narrow down: what is, and what isn't, human behavior.

We are both alike and very different at the same time. Each and every one of us.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Yeah. But humans need other people and you're probably the same.

[jianai]

Even those of my kin who hate humanity, are drawn to one another. Loneliness is heard to bear.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

And that's why you're not a fool. You'd just choose to be alone otherwise.

[jianai]

Well I can't really continue this, can I? I forfeit the argument. Looks like I've been defeated.

[Ren says mischeviously.]

However, if there are people who really can and choose to live alone... I would not call them fools either. I am sure they had their own reasons.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

[The first comment doesn't get dignified with a verbal response.]

I wonder what kind of person it'd be, though.

[jianai]

Probably someone who has been hurt deeply.

Or, alternatively - someone with such a strong will that they do not care what others do.

[itbelongsinamuseum]

Or maybe just someone living somewhere very isolated. Like somebody on the American frontier or something.

[jianai]

Is that really a choice in that matter, though? Or is it a necessity?

Is it ever a choice?

[itbelongsinamuseum]

No idea. Probably not.